Namewise

Anne

femaleHebrew, via French transmission

The French form of Anna, from the Hebrew root 'hanan' carrying the sense of grace or favour. Imported to England in the 13th century but not popular until three centuries later.

Origin: Hebrew, via French transmission

Anne, of Hebrew, via French transmission origin, commonly interpreted as "The French form of Anna, from the Hebrew root 'hanan' carrying the sense of grace or favour. Imported to England in the 13th century but not popular until three centuries later.".

Official popularity data is available for 7 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #1 in Norway in 1981. See regions.

AH-nuh/ˈɑː.nə/Audio not yet available.

Data Confidence

Evidence: HighCompleteness: SubstantialEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)
Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of regions with popularity data (7) — broader regional coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Regional familiarity

Editorial judgement of how familiar this name is in its primary region of use today.

International familiarity

Editorial judgement of how easily this name travels across languages and borders.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin
Hebrew, via French transmission
Meaning
The French form of Anna, from the Hebrew root 'hanan' carrying the sense of grace or favour. Imported to England in the 13th century but not popular until three centuries later.
Pronunciation
AH-nuh
Syllables
2
Common nicknames
None recorded
Classification
Traditional & modern
Gender usage
female
Language family
Hebrew, via French transmission

Popularity

Trend unknownEngland and Wales (female) rank from 2024 to 2024, ranging from #1036 to #1036.2024#1036#1036
View as table
England and Wales rank by year
YearRank
2024#1036

Demonstration dataSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

See full popularity history and data table

Meaning & Origin

The French form of Anna, from the Hebrew root 'hanan' carrying the sense of grace or favour. Imported to England in the 13th century but not popular until three centuries later.

Demonstration dataSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Hebrew, via French transmission

Demonstration dataSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Variants

  • Ann · spelling
  • Ane · spelling
  • Anna · spelling

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

Common alternate spellings: Ann, Ane, Anna.

Pronunciation

AH-nuh/ˈɑː.nə/Audio not yet available.
Syllables
2
Ease
easy

Demonstration dataSource: HEKNO Name Intelligence.Confidence: insufficient.

Regional Use

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Full sibling-set and initials-across-a-shortlist matching is a planned premium feature — see Premium.